One of Europe's most influential business people confirms Brexit has killed appetite to invest in London

Reuters
LONDON — One of Europe's most influential industrialists questioned London's future as a financial centre in the wake of Brexit and said the UK is no longer "first on the list" for new investments here.

Swedish investor Jacob Wallenberg has a family foundation that holds massive stakes in companies such as pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and reformed automaker and now defence group Saab. The stakes generate around $130 billion (£102.9 billion) in revenue.

On investing in expansion — "For those of us who have the liberty to wait a while, we will wait a while. For the time being there are so many outstanding questions that the UK is not the first country on the list for investments and this will remain for some time."

Where London ranks on his investment list — "Am I, at this point in time, going to put new capacity in Britain? No."

The future of London's role in the financial markets — "For all of Europe, the axis London-Berlin-Paris is over. London has always been standing up for a libertarian view but is no longer at the table. It will be replaced by the axis Paris-Berlin, which has a very different view of economics. London is the centre of global financial markets, and that is being put into question. This is not in the interest of either the UK or Europe."